Engagement Photos

I got the privilege the other day to take some engagement pictures for our sweet friends Keith and Kayla...

They are really cute and really fun, so I tried to capture that in their pictures. I had a blast getting to spend time with them and love how the photos turned out...

(please excuse the excess amount of photos... I could not choose)

We had way to much fun walking around downtown New braunfels and Gruene!

Ok, seriously, Kayla is so beautiful and photogenic that it was hard not to get a good pic of her...Keith on the other hand...JUST KIDDING! They were both adorable!

I promise I am almost done...

This balloon one might be my favorite!

The balloons turned out to be a great prop and added some fun color!

I think you get the picture... I had fun, they had fun, we took a lot of photos!

I am being featured....

Tomorrow I am going to be featured over at Remodelaholic!

Please check it out!

Thanks a ton for featuring me!

I got an AWARD!

I am so excited and flattered! Today I received my first ever blog awards! Thank you so much Nicole, from Inside the Mind of Nicole, who gave them to me! I really appreciate it! I have truly fallen in love with blogging, I finally found an outlet for all the creativity racing around inside my head! It has been so fun and I am excited to keep going...

I recieved the Stylish Blog award

and the

Trendy Blog Award!

The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Link back to the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass it along to 7 other stylishly and trendy bloggers.

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

Seven Things about Me!

1. I am a mom of three beautiful children! I am a wife to a wonderful husband! But most of all I am a daughter of GOd! Who rescued me from destruction through his Son, Jesus Christ! I am proud of all of my labels and desire to grow stronger and deeper in all of them!

2. If I could blink my eyes and be doing anything in the whole world... I think it would be photography! I have such a passion for it and I enjoyed studying it in college. It is a great way to express myself through art! I also could be a proffesional painter, or really be doing anything crafty all the time! I just love it! I got the opportunity to do some engagement pictures for the first time the other day and could not be more excited at how they turned out.

3. The quickest way to my heart is through a Sonic Dr. Pepper. I can't get enough, and I will love any one who brings me one!! :) It is an outing for my kids and I, sad I know! True confession: I normally don't share with my kids when they ask for some, I pretend I am saving them from sugar overdose, but really I am being selfish... Is it so much to ask for one thing untouched by my crazy kids?

4. I LOVE to play games!Card games, board games, DVD games, anything really. My husband and I play card games all the time! We actually just found the game Sequence, (I know it has been around forever) somehow we have never played, it is so fun! Which leads me to my next fact...

5. I am super duper competitive! I mean it is pretty bad, I have had to tone it down a lot now that I have kids and all...no fun! :) I love to win, and I love to compete in sports, games, really anything. Please Don't judge... My husband and I will make any simple action into a competition, one of our favorites is the radio game. He turns on the radio and if I can guess the name of the song or the artist for every preset station I get a prize...normally a Dr. Pepper. I am not the great, but he is really good!

6. Peanut butter brownies are my downfall. I mean, I will hide them around my house or not tell anyone I made them just so I can eat them all!

7. My biggest struggle is finding the right balance between being a mom and a wife and me! I am learning and growing through God's grace to see what that looks like! I am constantly reminded that there is a season for everything! I am seeking joy in the midst of chaos and find it most when I am in God's word.

Now I get to pass the awards on to 7 more great blogs...

Stylish & Trendy Bloggers…. {You get BOTH awards!} ---- CHECK OUT THESE BLOGS! Personal favorites of mine!

1. Mandy @ Keepin' it Easy!

2. Meg @ Meg and the Boys

3.Jenise @ Livesay Life

4.Madi @ Vintage REvivals

5. Amy @ Playing Sublimely

6. Emily @ The Fun House

7. Lara @ Less Cake More Frosting

Our Command Center

Over here at the James' house, there seems to always be something going on. In an attempt to keep my sanity, I created this space for our family. Here is what it looked like before...

A long empty hallway, not very inviting and not practical at all...

It is in the entry to our house, ideally I would love a magnificent mudroom complete with shelves and board and batten, however the house we are in does not have that layout. So, I found the dumping ground of our house and organized it.

First I found a bench on craigslist for $10 so that we could put on shoes or a jacket easier and to ground the space.

I found the coat hanger at an estate sale a while ago and just spray painted it silver.

My favorite part is this chalkboard calender. It started as a really big picture from Goodwill and then I just painted chalk paint all over it and it became a wonderful monthly calender! I used permanent marker for the blue lines and the days of the week. It just makes me smile :)

The bulletin board needed to be a place for all of our stuff, so I decided to divide into three columns. There is one for my husband, myself and for the kids. I just wrapped the board in fabric and then hot glued the rick rack down to divide the columns. I found theses super cute tiny chalkboards at Hobby Lobby and hung them above with each persons name on it to add a little fun. This is where I keep invitations, art, or anything else that I need a place for.

The mail station, is probably the most used. I found it at hobbylobby and decided that white would look better, so after some spray paint, it was perfect! We keep all of the incoming mail and important papers we need to keep track of in here. It is right by the front door so it is so easy to just put the mail in when you go out and get it.

I think this space is inviting and warm and a perfect combination of what the rest of our house feels like. It is pretty and practical and with three kids and a husband that is really all I can ask for...

Junk Drawer

Ok, So now I am pretty sure that I have gone crazy, but I can't stop organizing everything! It is making me so happy!

I got a little contact paper happy last week, so I found another project that I could use it for. My junk drawer. Which ultimately led to using it my other drawers too!

Just like the other projects, I took everything out and threw most of it all away. Starting with a blank slate really helps you to group like items together and to see what space is actually available.

Then I just put the necessities back in and there you go! Here are some before and afters of my other drawers also...

I still have like half a role of contact paper left...what else can I put it on???

Coat Closet

Well, once again I am amazed at how many spaces in my house need to be completely re-organized! My coat closet actually serves as my craft closet, or as my husband likes to call it "my crap closet." So it normally gets things just thrown into it... hence exhibit A:

My mother in law was getting rid of this storage shelf so I immediately jumped on it and said I would take it off her hands...

It is perfect for all of my crafty stuff: pens, stamps, paint and all that other super fun stuff.

After I got everything into the closet, all I really did was throw away anything that I did not want or was trash. This made a huge difference and then I just put stuff back into it. Pretty simple, but WAY over due...

It did not cost me a thing...and I love it because now I can actually see what I have! Thanks A Bowl Full of Lemons for the inspiration!!! Keep it coming...